My First Winter

So no, I'm not a freshman, despite the fact that apparently I still act like one. But this winter has really seemed like my first true "college winter," despite having been at Dartmouth for three wonderful years. My freshman winter was more of a muddy excuse for a season, as exemplified by the fact that they had to import snow for the Winter Carnival snow sculpture, which was crafted on top of a green (okay brown) Green. Having grown up in San Francisco, I'm pretty sure I was more excited that I was going to get to go to school in the snow than I have been for just about anything, so to say I was disappointed when the average temperature was 40 and we got almost no snow would be a very big understatement. So my sophomore year, I did the logical thing that everyone does when they want freezing cold weather and feet upon feet of snow - I went to Africa, where it was the middle of the summer. And while I maintain that last winter was one of (if not the) most transformative experiences of my life (so I absolutely second the props given to Dartmouth Athletics in the last player spotlight about how incredible it is that we can study abroad), it's definitely been a different sort of adventure being back on campus. 

Due to some changes in transfer term policies and pre-med requirements, the population on campus right now is much higher than a normal winter in Hanover, when everyone seems to want to go somewhere where they can soak up some vitamin D (although yesterday I defied the idea that you can't get sunburned in Hanover!). To make things even more happening, this past weekend was Winter Carnival AND the start of the Winter Olympics! I'm not sure who exactly told me that it would be okay to not touch my backpack for 4 days, but I definitely agree with them even if some professors don't. This weekend was the perfect break from the chaos of winter term academics and a great chance to revamp before heading back into the remainder of the term. Winter Carnival, like Homecoming in the fall and Green Key in the spring, can sometimes get a reputation for being little more than the college's excuse to ignore work for a few days and hang out. However, the big weekends here are perfect termly reminders of how lucky we are that this is our home base for four years - it seems like every weekend I'm hearing about something incredible to do just right around town! This week's fun fact is that we're only 15 minutes away from the longest ice-skating trail in North America! I'm not going to say my performance on it rivaled that of the Sochi competitors because I wouldn't want them to get their feelings hurt, but I do think that the 2018 US Figure Skating team should be seriously considering my recruiting tape.

We all talk pretty regularly about how grateful we are that we have the opportunity to go to Spain, Argentina, San Francisco, or Texas (and that's just this term!) while being D1 athletes. However, sometimes in the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life, especially in the winter when we're trying out new things or taking daunting classes (one of our 14s, Elisa Scudder, is in her first science class - Physics for Future Leaders!), it's easy to forget that we have an incredible place to call our second homes when we return from our globetrotting adventures. Seeing alums come back and talk about how much they miss the little things that we take for granted on a daily basis is great not only because alums are some of the coolest people I've ever met, but also because it's a little reminder of the fact that even when it's 6:30 AM and -20 and we're walking to practice and cannot feel a single extremity, we're surrounded by beautiful snow-covered trees on our way to play volleyball at a D1 school before going to classes led by the best undergraduate faculty in the country (and then, to really help out with the first part, the library sells really fantastic coffee :)). But now that Winter Carnival is over, it's time for us to recover from the frigid Polar Bear Plunge, catch up on those readings that weren't as important as ice skating or watching Olympians actually ice skate, and get to work because somehow we're already on week 6, and the second round of midterms are right around the corner! But luckily every TV and computer on campus has started streaming the Olympics, so we will not be short on study breaks :) 

Alex Schoenberger '15